Pakistan is currently engaged in a three-match Test series against England at home. The Men in Green lost the first two matches played in Rawalpindi and Multan by a margin of 74 and 26 runs, respectively, to lose the series at home in England’s first Test tour of Pakistan in 17 years. The hosts are now looking to redeem some pride by getting the better of the visitors in the third Test, which started on Saturday (December 17) at the National Stadium in Karachi.
The final Test is significant for Pakistan because it is the final game for former Test captain Azhar Ali. The right-handed batter has announced his decision to bid farewell on the eve of the third game. On Friday, December 16, Pakistani players took part in the training session to fine-tune their preparations for the final game of the tour, and during that, captain Babar Azam faced former Men in Green spinner and present head coach Saqlain Mushtaq in the nets.
During that nets session, the 45-year-old Mushtaq bowled a magical delivery to leave the right-handed batter stunned. Babar was facing net bowlers and other throwdown specialists in the nets when Mushtaq, who had represented Pakistan in 49 Tests and 169 ODIs during his playing days, decided to roll his arm.
The right-arm offbreak bowler angled the delivery towards the off-stump line, and Babar tried to play a reverse lap shot. But the ball took a turn and went underneath the swinging bat and kissed Babar’s stumps. The batter was left stunned to see how it all panned out and stared back at Saqlain before restarting his practise again.
Babar, who is the captain of the Pakistan team in all three formats of the game, came out to bat No. 3 in the second innings of the Multan Test. But he was only able to score one run from 10 balls, and because of his failure to score runs when it was required the most, the right-handed batter faced a lot of criticism from fans on social media platforms.
